Dacia Jogger Review & Prices

If you’re after a practical, seven-seat family car but don’t want to fork out for an expensive SUV or a bulbous people carrier, then take a look at the Dacia Jogger. At a glance, this looks like a regular estate car, but it’s big, chunky and spacious like an SUV.

It’s a bit like those Russian matryoshka dolls. The big ones look a lot like the small ones, but open them up and they can fit a lot more inside.

Combining SUV and MPV practicality, the Jogger has been designed so that seven people can sit in comfort throughout – yes, even in the rearmost seats.

That said, don’t expect to find a first-class cabin that’s all posh leather and wood panelling. The Jogger’s interior is simple and hard-wearing, and perhaps a bit cheap-feeling in places. But then this is an extremely affordable car, and when it comes to value for money, it hits the nail on the head.

Where the Jogger really impresses is how roomy it is. You’d be hard-pressed to find more headroom in a cathedral, and there’s loads of space in the second row (and even the third row) for taller adults to stretch out comfortably. Of course, boot space takes a hit when you’ve got seven people in the car. But by folding down the rearmost seats – which are also easily removable – you’ll easily be able to fit more than a couple of chunky suitcases back there, even though those seats don’t fold flat into the floor.

Watch: How much weight can the Dacia Jogger handle?

With its no-frills price tag, you get a pretty no-frills set of standard equipment at the entry-level. Air conditioning, metallic trim detailing and 16-inch steel wheels with covers are included, but to get an infotainment system you need to download an app onto your smartphone. But at least there’s a built-in smartphone cradle you can then use to hold your phone in place.

Of course, if a properly spartan version of the Jogger isn’t really your bag, you can always upgrade. The range-topper doesn’t cost a huge amount more, and it gets things like heated seats, cruise control, LED headlights and a proper infotainment system. The mid-range specifications are a good compromise of keeping costs low without sacrificing some luxuries here and there.

There are two engine choices, starting with a 1.0-litre petrol with 110hp that’s paired to a six-speed manual, and which can take you from 0-60mph in around 11 seconds. That’s enough punch when you’ve got one passenger on board, but with a full car you’ll likely find you struggle to make swift progress.

Better is the hybrid version, which has a 1.6-litre petrol engine and an electric motor that make a more load-friendly 140hp. It’s still not rapid, but it’s more economical, and is the only way to get a Jogger with an automatic gearbox.

Either way, the Jogger is comfortable. Sure, it might not be the sportiest or the most refined car in the world, but then again it’s not meant to be. The manual gear shift is smooth, and the Jogger doesn’t feel so chunky that squeezing into tight parking spaces will cause you to break out in a cold sweat. This is a very easy car to drive, and to see out of.

On the motorway, it makes for a good cruiser too. Yes there’s a bit of wind noise, and yes, you’ll notice that the petrol version feels a touch underpowered. But otherwise, the Jogger makes for easy sailing.

All up, the Dacia Jogger is an extremely likeable car. It’s cheap to run, supremely practical, comfortable and very charmingly simple to use and to live with.

So if it sounds like it could be the car for you, head on over to our Dacia Jogger deals page to see how much you can save when you buy through Carwow. If you're interested in a used Dacia Jogger then you're in luck, head over to our used page to check out the latest offerings, or browse other used Dacia models. You can sell your car easily through Carwow, too.

The Dacia Jogger is so comically affordable that they’re almost giving it away. Well, compared to its direct competition, anyway, of which there are… er… not many. Most car makers have stopped making the sort of practical seven-seat MPVs that the Jogger theoretically competes with, preferring to build chunkier SUV with their desirable high driving positions.

The closest alternatives to the Jogger are the seven-seat versions of the Volkswagen Caddy and Ford Tourneo Connect, but even those van-based vehicles are considerably more expensive. A Citroen e-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Rifter and Vauxhall Combo Life Electric cost a good chunk more than even a fully loaded Jogger because of their electric engines. The Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008 are well-priced, seven-seat SUVs but, you guessed it, still cost quite a bit more than the Jogger.

If you need to carry seven people around, and you’re on a tight budget, there really isn’t anything else. And if you only need five, the third row is easily removed and stored away for extra boot space in five-seat mode. Provided you’ve got somewhere to keep a couple of seats from a car.

Three trim levels let you go from super-basic and affordable to, well, well-equipped and affordable. The Essential trim is the cheapest way into a Jogger but you still get air conditioning and electric windows, so it’s not like you have to sacrifice all creature comforts. There is an 8.0-inch media display, but there’s no built-in infotainment, instead you have to plug your phone in to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Expression and Extreme are much more popular because you get stuff like parking sensors, reversing camera, automatic wipers and heated seats, depending on model. Hybrids are only available with these two trims, and add a digital driver display.

It’s also worth noting that the hybrid version is more expensive than the petrol, by about £3,000. You’ll have to decide whether the automatic gearbox and digital dashboard, coupled with potential running cost savings, make it worth the extra.

The Dacia Jogger is easy to drive whichever engine you choose, but the base petrol is rather gutless for motorway overtaking

In town

The Jogger is great at absorbing bumps, so this is a pretty easy-going car around town. Actually, the Jogger puts plenty of significantly more expensive cars to shame when it comes to dealing with lumpy Tarmac.

The steering is light, which helps when tucking into tight spaces, but the turning circle is a bit big — 11.7-metres — which means you have to take your time with small roundabouts. The view out is great, as you sit relatively high up with big back windows, decent door mirrors, and not too much in the way of blind spots.

In petrol cars, the gearshift is light, if a little notchy and the only problem really is a slightly stodgy feeling to the clutch. The hybrid has a slick automatic gearbox, while the engine is happy pootling around quietly on electric power at lower speeds, making it the more relaxing of the two.

On the motorway

Opt for the petrol and its motorway performance is fine up to a point, but you’ll really notice that it’s lacking for outright performance, especially if you’ve filled your Jogger with people and luggage.

If you’re trying to overtake on the motorway, it’s really slow and laborious — watching the speedo needle when you accelerate in sixth gear is like watching the hour hand on a clock…

The hybrid is a bit better here. It’s not what you’d call quick, but it’s easier to get up to speed. On the flip side, it can be quite noisy under acceleration, which is particularly noticeable when you put your foot down on a slip road, for example.

However, noise isn’t much of an issue when you’re cruising. Both engines settle into the background noise at speed, while road and tyre roar are kept to reasonable levels. There’s not even much wind noise around the door mirrors.

On a twisty road

Has Dacia managed to make this practical seven-seater a dynamite drive on a country road? Has it given the Jogger the kind of steering sharpness and chassis poise we’d expect of a BMW M3? No, of course not, but it’s fun to imagine, isn’t it?

All the Jogger has to do on a twisty road is be comfortable and secure, and that it most certainly manages. There’s enough grip and enough ‘goes-where-you-point-it-ness’ from the somewhat vague, light steering that you’ll have plenty of confidence in your Jogger and that's what counts.

It’s fine, and to be honest that’s all it has to be. The key phrase here is ‘for what it is’, and in that sense the Jogger is hugely impressive. True, the Skoda Octavia Estate is a well-priced and massively spacious car that’s much more engaging through a series of corners, but then you can’t get seven people in an Octavia…

The Dacia Jogger is impressively spacious for passengers in all rows, but the lack of USB sockets in the back is a shame

Dacia has kept practicality to the fore — there’s a glove box (that’s admittedly on the small side), door bins that can hold a one-litre drinks bottle, and another small storage space under the front-seat armrest.

There’s also a spot for your phone, plus USB and 12-volt sockets, in front of the gear lever. The driving position is good, with plenty of in-out, up-down adjustment for the steering wheel.

On the outside, there are standard roof rails which can not only take a roof box but which can pop-out and be turned sideways across the roof to hold a bike rack.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back is the Jogger’s whole reason for existing. There’s a step in the roofline — that’s actually reminiscent of an old Land Rover Discovery — which means that even though the back seats are set higher up than the fronts (stadium-style seating, apparently) there’s plenty of room for heads, and legroom is decent too.

You get room enough for three people sitting side-by-side in the back at a bit of a squeeze, and while there is a transmission hump, but it’s small so there’s enough room for everyone’s feet. The doors open nice and wide so there’s enough room to get a big child seat in there, and ISOFIX anchors in the outer two seats help too.

The rear bench splits, folds, and slides in a 60:40 ratio, which isn’t quite as good as having three individual rear seats, but it’s good enough. There’s a 12-volt socket, some folding picnic tables, and decent-sized door bins too. No USB sockets in the back, though. That’s a shame.

In the third row is the Jogger’s real party trick — enough space for even full-grown adults to get comfortable. Try doing that in a Skoda Kodiaq… Those in the third row get their own cupholders, a 12-volt socket (which might be more useful if you buy a USB adapter) and the little windows at the back pop-open for some extra ventilation. The second-row seats fold forward out of the way to make back seat entry easier, but taller passengers will have to hunch over to get in and it’s easy to bang your head on the way in.

Boot space

With seven seats in use, there’s still 160 litres of luggage space, which is enough for two carry-on style suitcases. The third row doesn’t fold flat into the floor, but instead the backs of the seats fold flat and — by using some fiddly and awkward little levers — you can tumble them forward to lean against the backs of the middle row. Then you’ve got a massive 700 litres of space to play with. Pull some more levers and you can actually remove the rear seats entirely. They weigh 10kg each so they’re pretty easy for one person to move about.

Need more space? Well, the middle row also folds and tumbles (again, it’s a bit of a fiddly faff to do but easier than row three….). Now you’ve got 2,085-litres of space — more than you’d get in some vans. There’s even a little holder for the rear seatbelt buckles so that the belts don’t get in the way.

A Peugeot 5008 or Skoda Kodiaq have simpler, easier seat folding systems but then they’re bigger and more expensive. For context, these cars have 270 litres and 167 litres in seven-seat mode respectively, or 630 litres and 952 litres with the third row folded. As you can see, the Jogger holds its own.

The Dacia Jogger’s interior materials and equipment feel acceptable for the price, but you do have to accept plenty of cheap plastics

The Jogger’s cabin looks and feels nicer than you’d expect from the price tag. Yes, there’s lots of cheap plastic but on higher-spec models you get nice squidgy fabric trim on the dashboard and seats, which lifts everything up a bit. Even the climate control buttons look and feel good — similar to those in a £100,000 Audi R8…

Basic versions come with a simple solution for an infotainment screen — a clamp that holds your mobile phone in place, and an app that connects it to the Jogger’s touchscreen display. With Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you have all of the media and maps connectivity you need, so it doesn’t feel like much of a sacrifice.

You don’t get steering wheel controls, but instead a little ‘satellite’ set of buttons behind the steering wheel which come from an early-2000s Renault (Dacia’s parent company). It works, but it’s a bit fiddly.

The main instruments – a plain black-and-white digital trip computer – are simple and unfussy, which we like. You do get a digital dash in the hybrid model, which really helps elevate things to feel more modern.

Top-spec models get a six-speaker stereo system that may not have the crispest sound quality, but which at least is properly loud — not something you can say for every cheap car on the market. This trim also includes an integrated infotainment and map system, which could be appealing if you don’t like the idea of relying on your phone.

One odd thing — the magnification effect on the rear view mirror is completely different to that on the door mirrors, so something that looks a reasonable distance away in the door mirrors looks alarmingly close-up when you look in the rear view.

All Dacia Jogger trim levels can be specified with a 1.0-litre, 109hp turbocharged three-cylinder petrol that’s pretty familiar from the Sandero, the Duster, and lots of Renault products too. You’ll find it’s underpowered on motorways, especially if you’ve filled all the seats and the boot.

It has CO2 emissions starting from 130g/km, which means that you’re looking at the middle of the price range to tax your Jogger for the first year, which perhaps isn’t great for a car sold on its value for money. The 140hp hybrid is more efficient, with CO2 emissions of 112g/km meaning it costs a bit less to tax in year one, but not much.

At least the standard 1.0-litre engine is economical. Dacia claims that it’ll do 48.7mpg on average, and that’s exactly what we got out of it — well, 48.5mpg if we’re being precise. The hybrid? That promises 56.5mpg and we saw about 52mpg during our time with the car.

The headline safety rating for the Jogger will make for some pretty unpleasant reading. It managed just a single, solitary star (out of five) on the Euro NCAP crash test.

Does that mean that it’s an unsafe car? Well… NCAP constantly updates the criteria by which it scores cars, and much of the score recently rests on the fitting of high-end electronic safety aids. Dacia, being a budget brand, doesn’t want to fit those high-end systems as it would push up the price of the car.

There’s a push-and-pull element going on here. NCAP wants the pricier systems and is docking manufacturers marks on their safety tests if they’re not fitted. In fact, the Jogger scored a respectable, if not brilliant, 70 per cent for adult occupant protection, and 69 per cent for child occupant protection. It was let down by less than stellar scores in the vulnerable road users and safety assist segments.

The Jogger does come, as standard, with six airbags, a seatbelt reminder warning for the front seats, automatic headlights, cruise control and a speed limiter, driver and passenger front airbags, side airbags, and an autonomous emergency braking system. Blind spot warning is added to Expression and Extreme trims.

Dacia tends to make pretty reliable cars, and indeed it often embarrasses other car makers — even Japanese ones! — with its placing in reliability surveys. It’s worth pointing out, though, that those surveys are often based on customer satisfaction rather than a scientific assessment of actual problems, and when a car is this cheap many buyers might be tempted to give it an easy ride if there have been one or two small issues.

Indeed, that’s what we’ve noticed with some Dacias we’ve recently tested, including some electric windows that temporarily stopped working. By and large though, Dacias use older, well-proven Renault components that shouldn’t give too much trouble, and which will be cheap to fix if they do go wrong.

In the meantime, Dacia offers a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty that can be optionally extended out to six years and 100,000-miles.